Air cleaner



y 1957 R. J. BUNKER 2,797,768

AIR CLEANER Fiied March 14, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet l IN VEN TOR.

ROLLIN J. BUNKER ATTORNEYS July 2, 19 57 R. J. BUNKER AIR CLEANER FiledMarch 14, 1955 '2 Sheets- Sheet 2 INVENTOR. ROLLIN J. BUNKER ATTORNEY SUnited States Patent AIR CLEANER Rollin J. Bunker, Springfield, Oreg.

Application March 14, 1955, Serial No. 493,981

3 Claims. (Cl. 18316) This invention relates to liquid gas separationapparatus and more specifically, the invention pertains to means adaptedfor connection with smoke stacks for separating sawdust, dust, cinders,gases, smoke and other related materials from the air exhausted from thestacks.

One of the primary objects of this invention is to provide apparatus ofthe type to which reference has been made above which is inexpensive tomanufacture, noncomplex in construction and assembly, and durable inuse.

Another object of my invention is to provide a new and improved aircleaner for connection with a Smokestack or other exhaust meansextending from burners, furnaces and the like, the apparatus prohibitingthe dissipation of smoke or smog over industrial and residential areas.

Other and further objects and advantages of the present invention willbecome more evident from a consideration of the following specificationwhen read in conjunction with the annexed drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is an elongated, longitudinally extending cross sectional viewof an air cleaner constructed in accordance with this invention, withparts thereof being broken away.

Figure 2 is an enlarged detail cross-sectional view taken on thehorizontal plane of line 2-2 of Figure 1, looking in the direction ofthe arrows.

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary detail crosssectional view taken onthe horizontal plane of line 33 of Figure 1, looking in the direction ofthe arrows.

Figure 4 is an enlarged transverse cross-sectional view taken on thevertical plane of line 4-4 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of thearrows.

Figure 5 is an enlarged transverse detail cross-sectional view taken onthe line 55 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 6 is an enlarged detailed cross sectional view taken on thehorizontal plane of line 66 of Figure 5, looking in the direction of thearrows.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings, reference numeral 10designates, in general, an air cleaner constructed in accordance withthe teachings of this invention. As is seen in the drawings, the aircleaner 10 comprises a substantially horizontal chamber or duct having asubstantially rectangular cross-section. One end 11 of the duct 10 ismounted on and secured to the upper end 12 of a smoke stack designatedin general by the reference numeral 13. The bottom wall 10A of the duct10 is provided with a transversely and horizontally extending watertrough 14. A pair of water impeller wheels 15 and 16 are mounted forrotation within the trough 14. The impeller wheels 15 and 16 aresupported within bearings 17 connected to the side walls 18 of the airduct 10, and the impeller blades thereof are driven by motors 19 and 20in counter-rotation with respect to each other. The impeller wheels areadapted to pick up water from the trough 14 and throw the samevertically within the air duct 10 to form a substantially continuouswater shield which extends transversely of the duct.

A pipe or nozzle means 21 is mounted transversely 2,797,768 PatentedJuly 2, 1957 with respect to the duct 10 and is disposed intermediatethe impeller wheels 15 and 16. The pipe 21 is connected to a watersupply line 22 connected with the pressure side of a water pump 23. Thewater pump 23 is connected to a source of water supply (not shown)through supply line 25. The pipe 21 is provided with a V-s'haped slot 26which permits the water to spread evenly and pass upwardly transverselyof the air duct 10, and the surplus water from this pipe falls back intothe trough 14 to provide a water supply for the impellers or rotors 15and 16.

A pair of bafllles are provided on opposite sides of the trough l4 andserve to prevent particles of material removed from the air from beingthrown into the air duct 10, this being accomplished by directing theoverflow of the water and refuse outwardly of the trough 14 through thedrain pipes 10B and 10C to the sludge tank 24. The tank may be drainedby way of the pipe 24A. In many cases the tank 24 would not be used andin such cases the drain pipes 1013 could be connected directly with thesewer system.

Referring now to Figure 4 of the drawings, for certain air cleaningoperations the water supply shown therein is suflicient to cleanse theair, but in other cases, it may be found desirable to install atransversely extending drum 27 in the duct 10. The drum comprises a pairof hubs 28 and 29 having spokes 30 which connect with a channel shapedrim 31. A relatively fine screen 32 is secured to the leg 33 of thechannel and extends completely around the drum. A second drum shapedscreen 34 is secured to the leg 35 of the channel 31, thereby providinga double-screen drum through which the air must pass. A specialfiltering material 36 is packed between the screens 32 and 34.

A somewhat coarser screen 37 bridges across the spokes 30 of the drum toclose the ends thereof. A flexible sealing ring 38 seals the peripheryof the drum to the side walls 18 and the side wall 39. The side wall 39is removable from the air duct as indicated at 40, to provide access tothe drum 27.

A transversely extending tube or pipe 41 is fixedly secured by means ofthe boss 42 to the side walls 18 of the duct 10. The hubs 28 and 29 ofthe drum 27 rotate on this transverse piping and the drum 27 is rotatedby the motor 43 through the endless belt 44 connected with the drivenpulley 45, the latter being keyed to the hub 28 of the drum assembly.

The sub 28 is journalled within the bearing 46, which is secured to theside wall 39 of the duct 10.

Water under pressure is delivered from the pump 23 through the supplypipe 47 into the pipe 41 and passes through the spiral slots 48 formedin the pipe 41 into the interior of the drum 27. As is seen in Figure 1of the drawing, the drum 27 is rotatable within a trough 49 and willpick up on its outer periphery as the drum is rotated water disposedwithin the trough. Surplus water from this trough is fed back into thesludge tank 24 by means of the drain pipe 50.

Air to be cleansed is drawn through the duct 10 by the high speedpropeller or fan 51 which is driven by the motor 52. The fan 51 isdisposed on the outlet end 53 of the duct 10. The outlet end 53 may besupported by any suitable support as, for example, the pedestal 54.

The duct 10 is reduced in transverse area as indicated at 55 in Figure1, the reduction being in the direction of the rotors 15 and 16. Thisresults in the spray from the pipe 21 and the impeller wheels 15 and 16to more thoroughly cover the path of the air to be cleansed.

In operation, smoke and refuse are drawn from the top of the stack 13 bythe suction created by the fan 51. As the air and refuse pass the waterscreen delivered by the nozzle 21 and the impellers 15 and 16, coarseimimpurities, the air requires a second cleansing.

purities are removed therefrom, such as sawdust, dust, smoke and thelike. This water screen is generally quite efficient in the removal ofrelatively solid particles from the air. However, in the case of somegasses and dust This second cleansing or filtering is obtained bypassing the air and its entrained gaseous impurities through the drum27. As the drum 27 is revolved in the trough 49, the outer surface ofthe screen 32 picks up water through which the air has to pass, as wellas through the filter material 36. The supply of the water from thenozzle or pipe 41 imparts a film across the inner screen and furtherwashes impurities from the air.

This invention contemplates the provision of two separate motors 19 and20 for rotating the impellers and '16 whereby the speed of one relativeto the other may be changed to meet various conditions depending uponthe type of impurities which are carried by the air stream.

Having described and illustrated one embodiment of this invention, itwill be understood that the same is oifered merely by way of example,and that the present invention is to be limited only by the scope of theappended claims. 1

What is claimed is:

1. An air cleaner comprising an elongated substantially hollowrectangular duct having inlet and outlet ends, said duct having anarcuately oifset transversely extending trough formed in one sidethereof intermediate said ends and the side opposing said trough beingtransversely and inwardly indented to reduce the cross-sectional area ofthe duct, a water pipe longitudinally disposed within said transversetrough, said pipe having an elongated V-shaped discharge slot formedlongitudinally therein, an elongated impeller wheel disposed parallelwith and adjacent to one side of said pipe, a second impeller wheeldisposed parallel with and adjacent to the other side of said pipe, and

means for driving said wheels in opposing directions to. impel the waterdischarged from said pipe in spray form across said indented portion ofsaid duct.

2. An air cleaner comprising an elongated substantially rectangularhollow air duct having inlet and outlet ends, said duct having atransversely extending arcuately oifset trough formed in one sidethereof intermediate said ends and the side opposing said trough beinginwardly indented, a pair of oppositely disposed baffles extendinginwardly from and formed integrally with the edges of said trough, saidduct having a second arcuately ofiset trough formed in said one sidebetween said first trough and said outlet end and a plurality ofdrainage pipes disposed adjacent said troughs, said drainage pipeshaving one of their ends connected with said one side of said duct, anelongated transversely extending water pipe disposed within said firsttrough and being connected to a water pump, said pipe having a narrowlongitudinally extending slot formed therein and disposed in confrontingrelation to said inwardly indented wall, said pipe having an elongatedimpeller wheel disposed on either side thereof in a spaced parallelrelation, means for counter-rotating said impeller wheels with respectto each other, the blades of said impeller wheels rotating so as tointersect the water emitted from said slot, a transversely extendingfilter drum rotatably mounted on said duct for rotation within saidsecond trough, said drum having oppositely disposed U- shaped channelmembers integrally formed on the periphery thereof, the oppositelydisposed arms of said channel members having cylindrical screen memberssecured thereto and extending therebetween, filtering material disposedbetween said screen members, means for rotating said filter drum, anelongated water pipe having a plurality of transversely extending waterdischarge slots formed therein, said pipe extending axially through saiddrum, one end of said pipe being connected to said water pump, anexhaust fan disposed adjacent said outlet end adapted to draw airthrough the duct, and means for driving said exhaust fan.

3. An air cleaner comprising an elongated substantially hollowrectangular air duct having inlet and outlet ends, a transverselyextending arcuately offset trough formed in one side of said ductintermediate said ends and the side opposing said trough being inwardlyindented, a second arcuately oifset trough formed in said one side ofsaid duct intermediate said first trough and said outlet end, aplurality of drainage pipes disposed adjacent said troughs, saiddrainage pipes having one of their ends connected with said one side ofsaid duct, nozzle means mounted in said duct and connected with a sourceof water under pressure, said nozzle means being disposed in confrontingrelation relative to said oppositely disposed other side, a pair ofelongated impeller wheels disposed on opposite sides of said nozzle inspaced parallel relation, said wheels being positioned above andprojecting downwardly into said first trough, means for counterrotatingsaid impeller wheels with respect to each other, said impeller wheelsrotating to intersect the water emitted from said nozzle means, atransversely extending filter drum rotatably mounted in said duct forrotation within said second trough, means supplying water under pressureto the interior of said filter drum, and air exhaust means for saidduct.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS655,285 Thomas Aug. 7, 1900 1,026,227 Schmidt May 14, 1912 1,051,017Schmidt Jan. 21, 1913 1,112,860 Smith Oct. 6, 1914 1,819,595 DauphineeAug. 18, 1931

